Making Monet Jealous!

Panning vertically through the forest to evoke the mood of the place.

The newest of these seasonal images is the middle one just taken this week in the yellow of autumn.

Max Patch, North Carolina!

Sunday, just after the sun rose, I spotted two riders on horseback down in the valley below.  I waited, then I clicked the shutter at the moment when their shadows worked perfectly into the landscape.  I love this stuff!

2008 Smokies Calendars!

2008 Wall Calendars of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are now available!

Order your 2008 calendar by visiting my website.   Pre-order them now, and begin receiving them by Oct 30, 2007.

Autumn is coming!

Foggy Sunrise upon Clingmans Dome - late September, 2007.

Upstate NY Wilderness!

Watkin's Glen Gorge, New York - August 10, 2007

"Deep in the Gorge"

Newborn Fawn - Flame Azalea!

Gregory's Bald,  Great Smoky Mountains National Park - July 1, 2007

"Fawn Nursing"

This morning atop Gregory's Bald in the Smokies reminded me of the awesome miracle of life. In the dark hours of the morning, my friend Stayko continued on over the ridge to see the sunrise. I diverted from our path to spend a moment with this doe. Only after pushing through some azalea bushes was I able to see that there was a newborn fawn hanging beneath her legs. What an awesome gift fom above!

I stayed around for half an hour or so as this little one darted around on his wobbly legs. At times he leaped in front of me within arms reach. Then, he bolted back beneath his mother's nursing care.

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Now, for the famous Flame Azalea atop Gregory's Bald...

... colors ranged from a hot pink to a deep orange...

... the bees and hummingbirds were having a feast.

Cliff Jump - Grand Teton!

On the descent from Disappointment Peak - Grand Teton National Park

Images taken on June 10, 2007 by Bryan Hill 

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The quickest way down a precarious rock face?...  Jump!

We thought you might enjoy this animation of my short jump over a ledge on our descent from Disappointment Peak in Grand Teton National Park. 

Below us is Amphitheater Lake which can be seen in the left of the frame. Upon landing this short jump, I began a quick slide down the steep snow bank. A simple self-arrest with the ice axe brought me to a hault, and we resumed our controlled descent down the mountain toward the lake.

a) Amphitheater Lake looking toward Disappointment Peak . . . b) Climbing up "the spoon" . . . c) Bryan pushes on 

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The view of Grand Teton's south face from Disappointment Peak. We'll be back for that one.

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Unforgettable!

Storm over St. Mary's Lake - Glacier National Park

"Wild Goose"  - image made at 22:00 June 5, 2007

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At the checkout counter of a mom and pop diner yesterday I recall a wooden souvenir trinket bearing a saying of Mark Twain. It read, “I can live for a month off of a good compliment.”

There are occasions as an artist when an image (like a compliment ) so completely speaks to my spirit that I can easily live off of it for a month. It is these images that keep me going as a photographer. All the beautiful gallery-wall photographs are great. Really, they’re fun. But rarely do they turn my crank, spin me up, and keep me running on the high-octane Life-fuel that I crave. Such works of art far surpass simple aesthetic beauty. The kind “oohs” and “ahhs” are not even necessary and should be put away for later times with other, more mundane images. With such an image there should be no breath left in the viewer to make such complimentary groans. These images tell a story. They are a virtual biography of the artist.

This image overlooking Wild Goose Island is one such image. It speaks of my heart. That is because the image has come from the heart. A simple glimpse at it during a busy day in the city, and I will again be fueled with life. It reminds me not just of a place and time when the brisk wind and horizontal rain was tattering upon my rain-soaked skin at twilight. It reminds me of what makes me come alive, where I have come from, and where I am going.

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The damp dreary day in Glacier National Park was drawing to a close. We had designated the day as a recovery day from a very strenuous and painful day before it. 

My brother and climbing partner, Bryan and I had spent not one but two challenging days attempting to summit the lovely glacial jewel, Heaven’s Peak. The snow melt from the warm June days threw a curve ball in our plans to ascend the peak from the east after fording McDonald Creek. The melt-off had created a massive surge of water in the little McDonald Creek making it more like the mighty Mississippi. That didn’t deter us from making a couple foolish attempts at crossing it on the first day. All we had to show for it was one less ice axe (dropped when we were swept off our feet) and lower bodies that turned as red as ripe cherries due to the frigid waters.

On the second day we settled for crossing the river at the only bridge five miles down from our intended starting point. After the heavy five mile bushwhack through a dense forest that seemed determined to eat us alive, we sipped some water, ate some synthetic energy bars, and began our long steep push up toward the east face of Heaven’s Peak. It was clear by late-afternoon when we were hardly half way up the mountain that there was neither enough time in the day nor enough energy in our legs to make it to the summit. In fact, after a disappointing descent back to the shore of the roaring McDonald Creek, we reached an easy consensus that there was no way in heaven we were going back into that stretch of forest we had come through earlier. It had already left enough scars on our legs for us to make up a slew of campfire stories about the grizzly bears we wrestled that morning. The only option left was swimming across the river to the road on the other side. 

We water-proofed the camera gear, covered our packs so they would sort of float along with us, and did some push-ups to get our adrenaline pumping enough to make the initial plunge into the bone-numbing rapids. I shook Bryan’s hand, gave him a nod, and off I went. Half-way across, it was clear my trajectory was not favorable, and I hurriedly stroked my way back to the side I had started from, having now floated about 100 yards downstream. Somewhere along the way my knee struck a rock beneath the water that left me unable to bear weight on it for a number of minutes after dragging my body up the bank into the woods. Bryan learned from my error, started at a more favorable spot much further upstream, and succeeded in crossing. I re-gathered composure, and warmth, and then succeeded in crossing about a half hour after him. All the horror stories of people losing their breath and drowning in such icy waters barrage the mind during such a crossing. (In all seriousness this is extremely dangerous and not something to do under any circumstance.) In our case, things sure did work out well. Within two minutes of emerging from the icy river to the road a compassionate (and a bit awestruck) highway construction worker drove by with a look on his face that said, No you didn't." We gave a simple and exhausted nod that let him know we had indeed swum the mighty McDonald. He screeched to a stop and offered us a ride all the way down the road to the head of McDonald Lake where our car was.

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So there I was at St. Mary's Lake recovering from the adventures the day before. I was still very sore and getting around with quite a limp from the minor knee injury I had received. The temperature quickly plummeted as the sun hid away for the night, and a chilly breeze moved in across the lake carrying drizzles of water horizontally into my face and camera lens. 

I was deeply moved standing there alone in the reverence of this rich stormy blue scene. Wild Goose Island rested out in the middle of the lake. While powerful and compelling, something was missing from the image. I recalled an image of my late role model Galen Rowell (one of the world’s leading climbing and adventure photographers) silhouetted in a tree at sunset. The bare tree, whose branches had long-been-cut off, was calling for Life to be engrafted into it. This was my role. It’s where I needed to be right then.

I set a self-timer on my camera and let the lens get pelted with the steady surge of rainwater. Pushing through the pain in my knee, I leapt up into the barren tree and let out one of those warrior cries that such a storm calls for. Soon, the wildness of Wild Goose Island and the wild goose Spirit that resides in me were not all that different. I remained there for a while.

I waited there in the tree, and God drew near. My Father drew near! This is all that matters.

(James 4:8)

Mountaineering the West!

31 May 07 - 13 June 07

A close friend, Bryan Hill and I will spend the next two weeks climbing the stunning peaks of Glacier National Park on the border of Montana and Canada. There will be numerous stories and images to share upon our return.

"Glacial Wilderness" -  image made in August 2005 

Caving Adventure!

Yesterday, five of us ventured to an unnamed cavern in middle Tennessee. When the site was excavated in the 70s, all kinds of artifacts were found—arrowheads, tomahawks, and ancient cave paintings. When National Geographic caught word of the site, a story soon followed in the magazine. The location has since been gated off to visitors with the exception of those whom the landowners permit entry.

The adventure begins... 

Light-painting

Photography is literally painting with light. The film is the canvas, and the light is the paint. Inside of the cave today, we used a powerful flashlight to illuminate portions of the cave while leaving others dark (unpainted).

 

Illuminating the cave entrance.

The large room and dry riverbed.

Exploring the riverbed.

Mi Viaje a Colombia!

I am a changed man.

In only seven days, I acquired about eight days worth of life-transforming stories.  Sit tight while we process the experiences and images.  Here's a brief summary and a few images to give you a taste of the beautiful people and culture of Colombia...

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"The problem in Colombia is not the paramilitaries, not the guerillas (FARC), not the army—The problem is corruption!"

The violence in this beautiful country has been raging for nearly half a century. This is a situation where it is not possible to wipe out all the bad guys. The geurillas for example, hide out in the far reaches of the jungle living literally underground. I learned that it is not only unrealistic to resolve this conflict through force—it's impossible.

Two friends and I spent the last seven days with one of the chief warriors in the fight for peace among these three conflicting groups. We listened, learned, and saw the manner in which the hearts of individuals on all sides are being transformed. This process of reconciliation is not an overnight solution. It happens one heart at a time—but it works!

In the corrupted man, a changed heart is like a tiny seed of yeast. It seems insignificant. It's nearly unseen, but as the yeast works its way through the dough, it soon gives rise to a whole new way. A way of Love where there once was hate.

I learned that it is far more effective to kill the corruption in the man than to kill the man who is corrupted. 

Change is underway in Columbia, and the hate is falling away as the loaf of Love is rising.

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(Here's to HOPE in Colombia's next generation...)

Journey to Bogota, Colombia!

I will be in Bogota with two good friends Tyler Schooley and Jaret Martin from 19 March - 26 March 2007.

We will have much to share upon our return. Please pray for smooth communication across the spanish-english language barrier that I am currently only sub-par at crossing. Thank You!

Fire in Downtown Knoxville!

To our city's devoted and courageous firemen I say, "Thank you!" 

Thank you for the countless hours you go unappreciated, unthanked, and unrecognized...

Early in the morning on Feb 7, 07 at exactly 1:51 a.m. the south side of the McClung warehouse collapses.

1:52 a.m.

By 2:28 a.m. the east side of the building has also collapsed. Now there are rumors of other fires in and around downtown. One is visible from where we are standing in the parking lot of the Church of the Immaculate Conception at the north end of downtown.

2:42 a.m.

Flaming embers from this massive fire are landing on other buildings nearby. Firemen are hopping about on rooftops and hosing them with water to douse the small fires before they spread.

Local musician, Niles Haury casually lights a cigarette as the fire blazes below. 

Alexander Braden looks on in awe and disbelief.

These images and captions are © Paul F. Hassell as are all images and text on this blog and www.paulhassell.com. For use in publication, please contact me through the website.